Tune and Prepare!

daily devotional - ligonier.com R.C. Sproul There is still another vital aspect to the “ why ” of Jesus’ departure. He said, “If I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” Jesus’ departure was tied to Pentecost. There is no Pentecost without ascension. As the invested King of kings, Jesus had the authority together with the Father to send His Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way upon the church. Jesus spoke of a certain necessity of His leaving in order for the Spirit to come. Herein was another great advantage. He declared, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you” (Acts 1:8, KJV). Two remarkable things happened to the disciples after Jesus departed. The first is that they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). They were not despondent over the departure of Jesus. Obviously they finally understood why He was leaving. They understood what, for the most pa...

daily devotional - ligonier.com R.C. Sproul “Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on the cross!” Phil. 2:4–8, NIV Here the attribute of glory is ascribed to all three members of the Trinity. This glory is then confirmed as a glory that is eternal. It is not something added to or acquired by Jesus at some point in His earthly life and ministry. He held this glory at the beginning and will possess it for eternity: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and ...

..you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect... Hebrews 12:22-23 {Holman C.S.B.} Simple Meditation:     · The apostle uses past tens here.     · It's done ☆

God, being rich in mercy... • made us alive together with Christ • raised us up with him • seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus     Eph 2:4     Paul uses past tens here. This is the apostolic perspective. ☆

tools → Stage Effect A brief but important study for vitalizing the church's priesthood identity This writing is the direct extension of the Stage effect, part I. Here, I would like to give some practical biblical examples of the Earthly settings of the Kingdom of Heaven. Interestingly, this is partly about architecture. Meditation By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. {that the visible came out of the invisible} Heb 12:3 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2Cor 4:18 Main chapters The approach of the article The dynamics of the community Old Testament buildings and their activities New Testament Church/es and their activities Post Millennial Questions   Notices: Stage effect can be dimin...

meditation There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse 1 , and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him 2 , the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Isa 11:1-2 ... In that day the root of Jesse 1 , who shall stand as a signal 3 for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people 4 , from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations Isa 11:10-11 Notes: 1 Paul quoted this verse in Rom 15:12. referring to the Messiah: “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” "A ro...

God is not crippled by self doubt or anxiety. His throne is established forever. Enjoy being in his presence frequently so that you grow in confidence & assurance of his sovereignty not only as a biblical doctrine but a reality that brings peace & poise to your life. Terry Virgo

meditation I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. You shall not... You shall not... You shall not... Exodus 20:2 .. call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:15 In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. Psalm 119:87-88 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Mt 6:9-10 ..seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-33 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that ...

respecting the rank Human perspective VS Kingdom perspective ..a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there 1 , and Jesus and His disciples were invited 2 to the wedding as well. When the wine ran out 3 , Jesus’ mother told Him, 4 “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with Me, 5 woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” “Do whatever He tells 6 you,” His mother told the servants... “Fill the jars with water 7 ,” Jesus told them. So they filled them 8 to the brim. Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it 9 to the chief servant.” And they did. 8 (the water had become wine, Jesus took away the shame) 10 ... "You have kept the fine wine until now" 11 - said the chief servant. judaite decanter - zaksantiquities.com Now, let we see the dynamic in the record by faith. 1 the text suggest that Mary already was there, probably before Jesus came with his discipl...

Guilt or Throne? spiritual, mental hygiene, mutual need, purification, confidence, etc. This article is part of the "Vitalize" pack you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. Psalm 41:12 Dear saints and beloved! I recently visited a church which has a beautiful family life but suffers from a typical 21 century sickness. The guilt. Interestingly, leaders have told me that members are not as eager to come and get their lives back on track when they commit sins. They simply do not confess them openly. Since it is pastoral responsibility first - I really don't understand, why... The place we came from I believe that guilt is one of the most serious attacks on the humankind. People, nations can do "amazing" things to get rid of guilt. They walk thousands of miles, they squeeze themselves, they oppress themselves and unfortunately they oppress others just to see their own lives as super...

(Matt 5:1-16) by Andreas Köstenberger In his monumental Gospel, Matthew introduces Jesus as the descendant of Abraham and David, narrating his miraculous virgin conception and birth and recounting his flight to Egypt and return to Nazareth. At the inception of Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:1). Later, when hearing of John’s arrest, Jesus begins to proclaim an identical message (4:17). Yet while John is only the forerunner, Jesus is the Messiah. At this, Jesus gathers a large following and travels far and wide “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (4:23). After this preamble, Matthew opens the first of five major teaching sections of Jesus in his Gospel. The number five is reminiscent of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. Similarly, the reference to Jesus ascending a mountain brings to mind Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai when recei...

by Lex Loizides A number of factors helped the somewhat surprising spread of the Christian Faith across the Roman world which began in the first century. 1. The political unity of the Roman Empire did produce a certain economic and political stability, notwithstanding its many faults. This encouraged trade between large cities and regions. 2. The military and trade routes meant relatively easy access to large numbers of people (both by land and sea). Joel Kotkin writes, ‘Rome allowed considerable self-government to individual cities; the empire itself, notes the historian Robert Lopez, functioned as a ‘confederation of urban cells.’ Europe would not again see such a proliferation of secure, and well-peopled cities until well into the nineteenth century. People, products, and ideas traveled quickly through the vast archipelago of ‘urban cells’ over secure sea-lanes and fifty-one thousand miles of paved roads stretching from Jerusalem to Boulogne… Christianity’s rapid...

del libro: "Autoridad" por Martyn Lloyd-Jones ... Una declaración en los Salmos dice, 'El que habita en los cielos se reirá', y yo creo que Dios a veces se ríe de la Iglesia. Nos ve dispuestos a extender nuestras manos para sostener el arca. Pensamos que sólo nosotros podemos hacerlo. Estamos muy preocupados. Celebramos nuestras conferencias y sacamos nuestras propuestas. Pero no llegan a nada. Entonces, cuando estamos completamente agotados, después de todas nuestras grandes campañas, conferencias y nuestra brillante organización, y después de que hemos gastado todo nuestro dinero, y las cosas han ido aún de mal en peor, Dios inesperadamente -en el último lugar donde jamás hubieras esperado que lo hiciera y a través de la última persona en la que hubieras pensado- derrama de repente el Espíritu. Entonces la Iglesia se eleva a un nuevo período de gloria, de poder y de influencia. Hombres y mujeres se convierten en masa, y el poder de la verdad está d...

Y por cuanto sois hijos, Dios envió a vuestros corazones el Espíritu de su Hijo, el cual clama: ¡Abba, Padre! Gálatas 4:6 Es una oración muy conocida incluso para los no cristianos. Sin em­bargo, no mucha gente sabe que se trata básicamente de un patrón de oración y no de un mantra que pierde su significado al cabo de un tiempo. Hoy en día, muchas personas la rezan automáticamente. Pero Jesús Rey lo reza sistemática­mente . Algunas de las frases a continuación incluso necesitan ser actualizadas, entendiendo el significado.  N ecesitamos ver que Jesucristo mostró este patrón a sus discípulos para darles un marco para su oración diaria. Es una preferencia & referencia también: para Jesús, la cuestión clave es que los nombres de Dios sean conocidos y Su Reino esté aquí en la Tierra con el esplendor y el poder como está en el Cielo . En otras palabras, que el Cielo toque la Tierra y la restauración de Dios se ponga en marcha. Cuando el C...

"And because you are sons [and daughters], God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”" Galatians 4:6 It is a well-known prayer even for non-Christians. However, not many people know that it is basically a prayer pattern and not a mantra that loses its meaning after a while. Many people today pray it auto­matically. Jesus the King prays it systematically . We need to rephrase some of the following expres­sions to make their meaning clearer.  We must see that Jesus Christ showed this pattern to his disciples to give them a framework for their daily prayer. It is a preference & reference too: for Jesus, the key issue is that God's names be known and His Kingdom be here on Earth in the splendour and power as it is in Heaven. In other words - that the Heaven would touch Earth and God's restoration would be at work. When Heaven touches the Earth our perspective is restored....